Welcome to the stone(d) age! The USA has just got its first-ever farm to table cannabis meal experience at the newly opened Lowell Cafe in West Hollywood, California. It is the first cafe that has obtained a license to serve cannabis at a restaurant and will be focused on cuisine & the experience. Talk about living the high life!
What Is It?
The Lowell Cafe website says, “For over a century we’ve been forced to hide cannabis consumption out of public view, but that time is now over. We’re proud to announce Lowell Cafe — America’s first cannabis cafe serving farm fresh food, coffee, juice, and cannabis daily.”
The cafe hosts a variety of experiences, including a Dab Bar for the experienced weed consumers and a Flower House for first-timers and the relatively inexperienced. The food is curated by Chef Andrea Drummer, notably one of the top cannabis chefs in Los Angeles. The cafe will be serving juices and other farm-fresh food. However, none of the meals will be cannabis-infused as they do have permission for that yet.
Does India Deserve A Weed Cafe?
You know what they say. The best way to get people to use something is to prohibit it. And if what they say is true, then we already know that Delhi ranks third and Mumbai ranks tenth on the global weed list. In 2018 alone, Delhi & Mumbai consumed 38.2 tonnes and 32.4 tonnes of marijuana respectively. ALL OF THIS WAS DONE ILLEGALLY. Here’s another interesting stat for you to check out. Pot is legal in Amsterdam and in that same study, the city consumed just about a tenth of the cannabis Delhi did.
Almost everyone in India smokes pot but shhh, don’t tell anyone. From doctors to drivers, PHDs to students, literary geniuses to college dropouts – weed is used by everyone. It’s freely available across the country, and if made legal, probably one of the best sources of income for the Indian government. A friend of mine would always say, it’s strange that alcohol which makes people so aggressive and senseless is legal but weed, which just mellows people down is illegal. God knows, if weed was made legal there wouldn’t be so many ‘tu jaanta nahin mera baap kaun hai’ in Delhi.
Weed is available in Odisha, Varanasi, North East, Kasmir, Mysore and even Bihar. In most places in India, a tola of good quality hash is actually equivalent to being a status symbol. Heck, Jaipur is even considering a weed museum but of course, we can’t smoke it. It’s acceptable to watch people smoke weed in Bollywood flicks. The elusive ‘cannabis’ is probably India’s worst kept secret.
The US is clearly moving with the times. The weed industry is a gentle giant waiting to be awakened and legalizing it in India is a moment that needs to start today. Who’s with us?